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Preparation

Make crust:

In food processor, pulse flour and salt until combined. Add butter and pulse just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and pulse or gently stir with fork until incorporated.

Squeeze small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water 1/2 tablespoon at a time, pulsing or stirring until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface, gather into ball, and flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour. (Dough can be made ahead and frozen up to 1 week. Defrost in refrigerator before proceeding.)

On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 12-inch round, then transfer to pie pan. Trim edge, leaving 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under and crimp edge decoratively. Prick bottom and side of shell all over with fork, then chill shell 30 minutes. (Shell can be assembled to this point ahead: Wrap entire pan well in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 2 days, or freeze up to 1 week. Defrost in refrigerator before continuing.)

While shell chills, preheat oven to 425°F.

Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans, then bake until pastry is set and pale golden on rim, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until pale golden all over, 5 to 7 minutes more. Cool on rack.

Make filling and bake pie:

In medium saucepan over moderately high heat, simmer maple syrup, uncovered, until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Carefully whisk in butter (mixture may splatter), then sugar and salt. Remove from heat and let cool to warm room temperature.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread chopped chocolate in even layer over bottom of prepared crust. Sprinkle nuts in second even layer, then pour filling over nuts. Bake until filling is puffed and center is just set, 45 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. (Pie can be made up to 1 day ahead. Let cool, then cover loosely and store at room temperature.)

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Recent Reviews

I don't particularly care for sweets or maple syrup. But, I recently had some maple chocolate cookies from Canada and I felt inspired. Used a storebought pie crust, but otherwise followed the recipe. Turned out even better than I hoped. Special enough for a holiday dinner, but not sickeningly sweet.

micanum from Pasadena, CA /

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Ooey, gooey, goodness, this pie was a huge success! I also bought a crust, a whole wheat one, and there was a bit too much filling for it, but I expected that. I used super high grade maple syrup of the sort not available in stores, and boiling it down to 3/4 cup was fine. Anymore I would have had taffy. Also used dark chocolate which helped cut the sweet. I look forward to making it again.

inthezuki from Malo, WA /

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this pie is pretty good. i am definitely making it again just because it slightly burned the 1st time and i want to try it at its fullest. i bought a pre-made crust and the filling was too much for the 9-inch pie. but whatever, i just threw out the remaining syrup mix. i found that the brown sugar was overwhelming in this recipe. after having two bites of the pie, i couldn't have any more and had to drink milk to cut the sweetness. like the past reviewer said, simmering the maple syrup more for a more intense flavor and a smaller yield would be ideal, as well as using 3/4 cup brown sugar. nice thanksgiving pie for the chocolate lovers, though.

ilserenee from new york city /

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Wonderful pie. I took
it to the in-laws for
thanksgiving. Everyone
ate it up. No one
touched the pumpkin
pie. I didnt serve a
topping with it it
didnt need it. It was
very rich by itself.
The maple syrup boiled
over when I heated it,
so next time I will
use a much larger
sauce pan to simmer
the maple syrup.
Second, I used a
premade deep dish
shell and there was
too much filling for
it, especially with
the cashew and the
chocolate in the
bottom of the pie
shell. Next time I
will boil the syrup
down to half a cup
instead of the ¾ cup
the recipe recommends.
Finally I will chop up
the chocolate and the
cashew much smaller.
The large chunks of
chocolate were hard to
eat as well as cut. I
agree with the
previous reviewer. The
chocolate overpowered
the flavor of the
maple syrup. You can
probably very
successfully use corn
syrup in place of the
maple syrup if you use
the chocolate. I made
little tarts with the
extra filling and I
didnt put in the
chocolate. It was also
delicious.

A Cook from Bel Air, MD /

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Fantastic. Everyone loved it, even though I forgot to take the creme fraiche with me to the party. I made it twice. The second time I chopped the cashews. I think it looks better, and it's less cruncy during dinner. I've made other variations on pies with maple syrup, and this one is the best. Enjoy!